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STUART SUTCLIFFE/ 2012
(  Satoshi Kinoshita )
| Series: | Prints on paper: Portraits 3 | | Medium: | Giclée on Japanese matte paper | | Size (inches): | 16.5 x 11.7 (paper size) | | Size (mm): | 420 x 297 (paper size) | | Edition size: | 25 | | Catalog #: | PP_0260 | | Description: | From an edition of 25. Signed, titled, date, copyright, edition in pencil on the reverse / Aside from the numbered edition of 5 artist's proofs and 2 printer's proofs.
"One April evening in 1960, walking along Gambier Terrace by Liverpool Cathedral, John and Stuart announced: 'Hey, we want to call the band The Beatles."
- Paul McCartney
Stuart Sutcliffe -
Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a Scottish[1] artist and musician, best known as the original bass player of The Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue a career as an artist, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art. Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with coming up with the name "The Beatles", as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets. As a member of the group when it was a five-piece band, Sutcliffe is one of several people sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Beatle".
When The Beatles played in Hamburg, he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. He later enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art after leaving The Beatles, and studied under future pop art artist, Eduardo Paolozzi. He earned praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism. In 1962, Sutcliffe collapsed in the middle of an art class in Hamburg after complaining of head pains. German doctors performed various checks on him, but were unable to determine exactly what was causing the headaches. On 10 April 1962, he was taken to hospital, but died in the ambulance on the way.
The Beatles and Hamburg:
Sutcliffe's playing style was elementary, mostly sticking to root notes of chords.[31] Harry—an art school friend and founder and editor of the Mersey Beat newspaper—complained to Sutcliffe that he should be concentrating on art and not music, as he thought that Sutcliffe was a competent musician whose talents would be better used in the visual arts.[32] While Sutcliffe is often described in Beatles' biographies as appearing very uncomfortable onstage, and often playing with his back to the audience, their drummer at the time, Best, denies this, recalling Sutcliffe as usually good-natured and "animated" before an audience.[33] When The Beatles auditioned for Larry Parnes at the Wyvern Club, Seel Street, Liverpool, Williams claimed that Parnes would have taken the group as the backing band for Billy Fury, but as Sutcliffe turned his back to Parnes throughout the audition (because, as Williams believed, Sutcliffe could not play very well), Parnes said that he would only employ the group if they got rid of Sutcliffe. Parnes later denied this, stating his only concern was that the group had no permanent drummer.[34] Klaus Voormann regarded Sutcliffe as a good bass player,[35] although Beatles historian Richie Unterberger described Sutcliffe's bass playing as an "artless thump".[36]
Sutcliffe's popularity grew after he began wearing dark Ray-Ban style clip-on flip-up sunglasses and tight trousers.[37] Sutcliffe's high spot was singing "Love Me Tender", which drew more applause than the other Beatles, and increased the friction between him and McCartney. Lennon also started to criticise Sutcliffe, making jokes about Sutcliffe's size and playing.[38] On 5 December 1960, George Harrison was sent back to England for being under-age. McCartney and Best were deported for attempted arson at the Bambi Kino, which left Lennon and Sutcliffe in Hamburg.[39][40] Lennon took a train home, but as Sutcliffe had a cold he stayed in Hamburg.[41] Sutcliffe later borrowed money from his girlfriend, Kirchherr, in order to fly back to Liverpool on Friday, 20 January 1961, although he returned to Hamburg in March 1961, with the other Beatles.[38]
About eight months after meeting Kirchherr, Sutcliffe decided to leave the group in July 1961, to continue painting, although he had been turned down when he requested to study for the ATD (Art Teachers Diploma) course at the Liverpool Art College.[42] After being awarded a postgraduate scholarship,[11] he enrolled at the Hamburg College of Art under the tutelage of the pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi.[37] He lent McCartney his bass until the latter could earn enough to buy a specially made smaller left-handed Höfner bass guitar of his own in June 1961. Sutcliffe asked McCartney (who is left-handed) not to change the strings around, so McCartney had to play the guitar upside down.[43] In 1967, a photo of Sutcliffe was among those on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album (extreme left, in front of fellow artist Aubrey Beardsley).[44]
Art:
Sutcliffe displayed artistic talent at an early age.[7][50] Helen Anderson (a fellow student) remembered his early works as being very aggressive, with dark, moody colours, which was not the type of painting she expected from such a "quiet student".[10] One of Sutcliffe's paintings was shown at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool as part of the John Moores exhibition from November 1959 until January 1960. After the exhibition, Moores bought Sutcliffe's canvas for £65, which was then equal to 6–7 weeks' wages for an average working man.[14] The picture Moore bought was called Summer Painting, and Sutcliffe attended a formal dinner to celebrate the exhibition with another art student, Susan Williams.[51] Rod Murray remembered that the painting was painted on a board, not a canvas, and had to be cut into two pieces (because of its size) and hinged. Murray added that only one of the pieces actually got to the exhibition (because they stopped off in a pub to celebrate) but sold nonetheless because Moores bought it for his son.[52]
Sutcliffe was turned down when he applied to study for an ATD (Art Teachers Diploma) course at the Liverpool Art College,[42] but after meeting Kirchherr, he decided to leave The Beatles and attend the Hamburg College of Art in June 1961, under the tutelage of Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students.[37][53][54] He wrote: "Sutcliffe is very gifted and very intelligent. In the meantime he has become one of my best students."[5]
Sutcliffe's few surviving works reveal influence from the British and European abstract artists contemporary with the Abstract Expressionist movement in the United States. His earlier figurative work is reminiscent of the kitchen sink school, particularly of John Bratby, though Sutcliffe was producing abstract work by the end of the 1950s, including The Summer Painting, purchased by Moores.[55] Sutcliffe's works bear some comparison with those of John Hoyland and Nicolas de Staël, though they are more lyrical (Sutcliffe used the stage name "Stu de Staël" when he was playing with The Beatles on a Scottish tour in spring 1960). His later works are typically untitled, constructed from heavily impastoed slabs of pigment in the manner of de Staël, whom he learned about from Surrey born, Art College instructor, Nicky Horsfield, and overlaid with scratched or squeezed linear elements creating enclosed spaces. Hamburg Painting no. 2 was purchased by Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery and is one of a series entitled "Hamburg" in which the surface and colour changes produced atmospheric energy. European artists (including Paolozzi) were also influencing Sutcliffe at the time.[56] The Walker Art Gallery has other works by Sutcliffe, which are "Self-portrait" (in charcoal) and "The Crucifixion".[57][58] Lennon later hung a pair of Sutcliffe's paintings in his house (Kenwood) in Weybridge, and McCartney had a Paolozzi sculpture in his Cavendish Avenue home.[59][60]
Notes:
1. ^ McGinty, Stephen (12 August 2011). "Stephen McGinty: Scotland meant a lot more to the Beatles than just Mull of Kintyre". www.scotsman.com (Edinburgh). Retrieved 13 November 2011.
5. ^ a b c d e "Stuart". Stuart Sutcliffe Estate. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
7. ^ a b c d Spitz 2005, p. 105.
10. ^ a b Spitz 2005, p. 107.
11. ^ a b Sutcliffe, Tufnell & Cornish 1998, p. 31.
14. ^ a b c Miles 1997, p. 50.
31. ^ Spitz 2005, pp. 184–185.
32. ^ Spitz 2005, pp. 173–174.
33. ^ An Evening With Pete Best, Part I: The Interview rickresource.com — Retrieved: 20 January 2007
34. ^ Bill Harry interview on Beatle Folks – Retrieved 28 November 2007
35. ^ "Stuart Sutcliffe, The Lost Beatle" documentary
36. ^ Unterberger 2006, p. 7.
37. ^ a b c d Miles 1997, p. 65.
38. ^ a b Spitz 2005, p. 242.
39. ^ Lennon 2005, p. 93.
40. ^ a b The BeatlesTimeline Beatles.ncf.ca — Retrieved: 9 May 2007
41. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 230.
42. ^ a b "Issue No.23 Mersey Beat Reveals The Beatles Are To Record!". Retrieved 1 July 2011.
43. ^ Miles 1997, pp. 74–75.
44. ^ Mcnab, Ken (9 November 2008). "The Beatles in Scotland: Stuart Sutcliffe's story". Sunday Mail (Scotland). Retrieved 1 July 2011.
50. ^ Lennon 2005, p. 47.
51. ^ "Beatles Browser Four (p4)". Bill Harry/Mersey Beat Ltd.. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
52. ^ Spitz 2005, p. 168.
53. ^ Hamburg identity card, 1961 liverpoolmuseums.org.uk — Retrieved: 13 May 2007
54. ^ Eduardo Paolozzi’s Report liverpoolmuseums.org.uk — Retrieved: 13 May 2007
55. ^ "The Summer Painting". Stuart Sutcliffe Estate.. 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
56. ^ 'Hamburg Painting No. 2' 1961 liverpoolmuseums.org.uk — Retrieved: 12 May 2007
57. ^ Sutcliffe's self-portrait (in charcoal) liverpoolmuseums.org.uk — Retrieved: 13 May 2007
58. ^ “The Crucifixion” by Sutcliffe liverpoolmuseums.org.uk — Retrieved: 12 May 2007
59. ^ Miles 1997, p. 170.
60. ^ Miles 1997, p. 258.
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Sutcliffe
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